Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1887-07-21
pRIvATEERs oFTHEwAR ora,
THE YANKEE.

|. better known than the Yankee
Bristol, II. l., and many were Il
{ prizes with which she enriched tn
a port.
Previous to the war, and while v
were between the upper aud meth.
! miIIstones of France and England, b,
owner, Captain James De Wolf, ha
suffered somewhat at the hands of th
British, who con6scated more tha
one Of his vessels. caught in the wa
Of trading with the French.
These confscatious were remember
ed and revenged by the old merchant
, but itrequired several of the Yankee
captures to set matters right. A
length, however, a large brig, whicI
she sent in, squared the long -standinJ
account; and, as new names were al
ways given to the vessels taken, b
very appropriately called this Graf
the Balance.
The next-also a brig-he named
the Prize; because a new leaf of th,
ledger had now been turned, and tn,
capture was in excess of all demands
John Bull or. by one brig.
Those were days of marine enthu.
siasm and marine prosperity. On one
cruise of four months, the Yankee
cleared for her owner seventy six
thousand dollars, and it is to be
remembered that, over and above this.
there were the shares of the officers
and crew. Her other ventures were
scarcely less fortunate.
Fully one-half of her prizes were
re-cartured by the enemy before reach
ing port, or her success would have
been still more remarkable than it
was.
Still, in spite Of this drawback, the
sight Of some heavy merchantmen,
coming in from sea, with the Ameri.
can flag streaming above the English.
become common in Bristol Harbor.
A prize would always commence
"iIuS WIG" ~"-y ~-~'--
so continue until she dropped anchor
off the wharves, making the town
shake with her British guns, loaded
with ammunition that cost nothing.
One such vessel came in on a fourth
of July, while the good people were
expendiug their patriotism in the
usual demonstrations Of that day.
The name of this prize | do not
recall; but she brought letter from
Captain Davol, of the privateer, tell
ing of the Yankees battle with the
Royal Bounty, huge East-Indiaman,
which had been captured and burned.
Captain De Wolf read the letter
to large assemblage on the common,
and the enthusiasm created by it was
great. One may imagine the stirring
old merchant, standing in his short
breeches and knee buckles, reading to
his towns-people a communication so
fresh from on board the Yankee, and
so in keeping with the spirit Of the
time.
l remember to have seen him many
years atterward, when l was a child,
and have a distinct remembrance of
those knee. bresches, as we'll as Of the
great ship-owners alert features.
Even in advanced age. he was re-
markably fne-looking man.
The Yankee was a hermaphrodite
brig, mounting fourteen broadside
mines, with long twenty-four amid
ships. She had previously been a
SLAYER, and was very roomy for a ves-
sci OF her size. Being of shallow
build. she was not good at beating to
windward, but, with a free wind,
would skim to leeward like swallow,
so that nothing could overhaul her.
1t was while away down on the
coast OF South America, that she fell
in with the Royal Bounty. The
Englishman, perceiving her in chase,
put his ship upon her best sailing
point, and, throwing out an enormous
cloud Of canvas, did all that he could
to escape.
But an English East-Indiaman,
with bows like the side of a church,
must have made a poor figure, when
her sailing qualities were matched
against those Of an American priva.
teer.
4 The Yankee gained rapidly, and
the British commander, perceiviug it
impossible to avoid her, shortened
sail. determined to fight it out.
His ship was armed with twenty.
six guns, but, as opposed to her enemy,
she laborsd under the disadvantage
of a hawk in mid-air when attacked
by kinghird.
Nevertheless, the brave English
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